27 January 2014

A relatively short blog this week. The highlight was a brief business trip to Seville, a place that I love and that for me is the quintessential Spanish city. I was there less than 24 hours but did have a nice evening out with a colleague. Otherwise, there was cycling. The weather is warming up, at the weekend it felt positively spring-like.

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I was out cycling and on my way home on the main Valencia road. When passing El Campello, I noticed a bunch of horseback riders getting ready to cross the big road, coming out from a side street. Police were on hand to stop the traffic as required. It turned out to be a celebration of the patron saint of animals. People bring their pets to the church to be blessed, and then the horseback riders ride around the town:

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A small dog was leading the parade, apparently:

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A follower:

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Pony cart and cop:

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Then, Monday afternoon I flew to Seville with my colleague Carolina. After checking into our hotel, we went for a walk along the Guadalquivir river:

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We walked to Triana, my favourite part of Seville, where I lived part time in 2003-2004:

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Typical Triana street:

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One of the many bridges over the Guadalquivir, Puente de Triana:

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Back in the office, Wednesday afternoon. Francisco has been to India on vacation during the Christmas break, and he brought some real tea to the office. Darjeeling tea has recently been recognised as a protected Geographical Indication by the EU:

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Francisco impressing the ladies with his India pictures:

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All last week, the garbage collectors in Alicante were on strike. As the days went on, the trash kept accumulating. I photographed it in our neighbourhood while walking the dog:

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Back to cycling. This is the beach in Santa Pola. The day is warm, but it is winter, so nobody is bathing, even though the temperature of the water now is roughly equal to the Baltic or North Seas in the summer:

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A bit further along on the bike ride, a parking lot full of Dutch campers, complete with Ajax Amsterdam flag. Spain used to rule the Netherlands, now the Dutch are invading here. But they are welcome: